Boston Dynamics’ Latest Robo-Dog Can Now Open Doors!

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At this point we really shouldn’t be shocked by anything that comes out of Boston Dynamics—not after they built a robot that can do a backflip, created a series of increasingly realistic looking robo-dogs, and gave us a giant superstrong machine that can outdance any human. And yet we’re still floored by the company’s latest creation. Or rather, we’re doored by it, because their newest robot literally has a handle on opening up amazing new possibilities.

The company released a new video featuring their latest version of their SpotMini robotic dog. This updated version, equipped with a retractable claw attached to a long flexible arm, comes in handy when Spot can’t handle that classic dog problem of a closed door. Depending on how much you do or do not live in fear of a robot uprising happening in the near future, this is either exhilarating or terrifying, or both.

A robot that can open a door might seem like a minor development, but imagine being able to send one of these nimble machines into a wreckage site, where it could safely look for survivors without being thwarted by a closed door.

However, even with such a benevolent possibility for using this guy, there’s no way we’re not all thinking the same thing watching this, right? This is basically the robot version of the velociraptors in the original Jurassic Park, which is not exactly the best correlation for those of us who fall on the “do” side of fearing our future robot overlords.

But we’re not really worried about that. At least not until Boston Dynamics gives MiniSpot an actual head and sharp teeth. That would really shock us.

What would be the best use of this door opening robo-dog? Open up your thoughts in our comments section below.